Darnell Jones v. Chippewa Circuit Court Judge, Genesee County Prosecutor, Kinross Correctional Facility Warden, Director of Department of Corrections, Detective Jeff Hooper, and Department of Corrections

Summary

The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of Darnell Jones’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The court held that, even assuming no probable cause conference was held, that omission did not create a jurisdictional defect or deprive the circuit court of jurisdiction after Jones was bound over for trial. The court also concluded that the alleged failure to hold a probable cause conference did not invalidate Jones’s conviction or sentence.

Holdings

1. Even assuming that no probable cause conference was held, the failure did not create a jurisdictional defect or deprive the district court of continuing jurisdiction over the case.
2. Once the preliminary examination was held and Jones was bound over on a charge, the circuit court obtained jurisdiction over him; the alleged absence of a probable cause conference did not defeat that jurisdiction.
3. Habeas corpus is unavailable as a substitute for an appeal to review the merits of a criminal conviction, although it may be available when the convicting court lacked jurisdiction and the defect was radical; Jones did not establish such a jurisdictional defect.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the alleged failure to hold a probable cause conference deprived the district or circuit court of jurisdiction over Jones's criminal case.
2. Whether habeas corpus could be used to obtain relief from Jones's conviction and sentence based on the alleged probable cause conference defect.
3. Whether the circuit court properly dismissed the habeas petition after determining that the alleged defect was not jurisdictional.

Disposition

affirmed